Community (2012)

Community is a British horror from writer/ director Jason Ford that focuses on life in a secluded and long forgotten dilapidated housing estate and what happens to two unfortunate film students when they pay a visit.

Community starts well enough, establishing a decent enough atmosphere and effective location for scares. Visually the estate has a genuine sense of foreboding so the film gains some credit in this area. However, it’s not long after the duo arrives on the housing estate that things start to go wrong for them and the film. The acting isn’t great from start to finish and although the cast are evidently trying their best, it’s pretty difficult to deliver this amount of clunky dialogue to good effect.

The story struggles as well, initially convincing as its believable two students would visit the estate, it takes a turn for the worse when a rather unconvincing blackmail subplot is introduced. OK, so there is a slim chance it may happen but it takes a lot of credibility away from the script.

Unfortunately there is a bigger problem, the film delivers a somewhat heavy-handed social message in such a clumsy way that it serves to irritate in its preachy nature more than anything else. Numerous comments are made by characters about how society is unfair and that people shouldn’t have to live this way. Whilst you’ll struggle to disagree for the opening fifteen minutes, Community just continuously rubs this in your face – it’s too much.

Worse still is that the message seems to be somewhat hypocritical considering the lower classes are often represented here as howling pack animals rather than human beings. In addition to that problem we are led to believe that everyone on this estate sees no issue with killing people in order to grow stronger cannabis. It’s an uncomfortable contradiction – on one hand the film asks for your sympathy and on the other demonises the people it represents.

Overall Community is a fairly nasty film that delivers an unpleasant message, which could be forgivable but the problem is it doesn’t do it very well and it ultimately leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.  Do yourself a favour and watch Eden Lake instead.